Plate 204.— LUZULA COLENSOI and LUZULA 

 CHEESEMANIl. 



Family JUNCACE^.] [Genus LUZULA. D.C. 



Luzula Colensoi, Hook. /. Handh. N.Z. Fl. 293 ; Ckeesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 734. 



Luzula Cheesemanii, Bnchen. Monog. June. 146 : Cheesem. Man. N .Z. Fl. 735. 



As its name denotes, Luzula Colensoi was one of the many discoveries of 

 Mr. Colenso, and was gathered by him on the summit of the Ruahine Range in Feb- 

 ruary, 1847, on the occasion of his first successful attempt to cross the range. In his 

 interesting " Visits to the Rualiine Mountain Range " (p. 60-61) he mentions a number 

 of plants forming " isohited patches, tufts, or hemispherical-shaped cushions closely 

 compacted together," and includes in the list " a Juncaceous plant, scarcely an inch 

 high, Luzula Colensoi. which also assumes dumpy hemispherical tufts or cushions." 

 There is no record of the species being met with again until 1878, when I gathered 

 it on the summit of Gordon's Nob, in the Nelson Provincial District ; and in 

 successive years in several other localities in the Nelson and Canterbury mountains. 

 More recently it has been collected by various botanists in numerous localities in 

 both the North and South Islands. It attains its northern limit, so far as I am aware, 

 on Mount Egmont and on Tongariro Mountain, where it is unusually plentiful ; 

 and stretches southwards as far as the Longwood Range, in the south of Otago. 

 It is a high alpine, and I have not myself seen it much below 4,000 ft. altitude, 

 while it ascends to considerably above 6,000 ft. 



As a species Luzula Colensoi is readily distinguished by its small size and almost 

 glabrous habit ; by its compact cushion-shaped mode of growth ; by the remark- 

 ably short stems, the flowers being sunk amongst the leaves ; and by the pale- 

 coloured inflorescence. 



The pretty little plant to which the name of Luzula Cheesemanii has been applied 

 by Dr. Buchenau was first collected by myself on the summit of Gordon's Nob, Nelson, 

 in the year 1878. Two years later Mr. J. D. Enys and myself gathered it on the 

 mountains near the source of the Broken River. Canterbury, at an altitude of nearly 

 6,000 ft. It has since been collected by Mr. Kirk on Mount Mouatt (Marlborough) ; 

 on Mount Torlesse by Dr. Diels ; and on the Craigieburn Mountains (Canterbury) 

 and on Mount Kyeburn and the Dunstan Mountains (Otago) by Mr. Petrie. Its 

 altitudinal range is very similar to that of L. Colensoi. 



L. Cheesemanii is very similar in size, habit, and appearance to L. pumila, but 

 differs in the more compound inflorescence and in the broader perianth-segments, 

 which have a narrow dark-chestnut stripe down the middle, and very broad silvery- 

 white margins. In L. pumila the chestnut stripe is broad and distinct, and the 

 white margins are either absent or very obscurely represented. From L. micrantha 

 and L. Colensoi it is at once removed by the flowering-stems being always longer 

 than the leaves. 



The genus Luzula contains about sixty species, the great majority of which 

 are confined to the Northern Hemisphere. The seven New Zealand species (or rather 

 eight, for Buchenau's L. racemosa var. ulofhijlla is doubtless distinct) are all very 

 closely connected with the cosmopolitan L. campestris. With the exception of 

 L. campestris and L. racemosa, the whole of them are confined to New Zealand. 



Plate 204a. Luzula Colensoi, drawn from specimens gathered on Mount Egmont, at an elevation 

 of 6,000 ft. Fig. 1, leaf (x 5) ; 2, inflorescence (x 5) ; 3 and 4, bracts (enlarged) ; 5, flower laid open 

 (x 8) ; 6, anther (x 10) ; 7, ovary and styles (x 7) ; 8, capsule (x 7) ; 9, section of capsule (x 10) ; 

 10, seeds (enlarged). 



Plate 204b. Luzula Cheesemanii, drawn from specimens gathered on Gordon's Nob, Nelson, 

 at an altitude of 5,000 ft. Fig. 11, leaf ( x 4) ; 12, flower ( x 8) ; 13, flower laid open ( x 8) ; 14, anther 

 (x 10) ; 15, fruiting inflorescence (x 5) ; 16, capsule (x 8) : 17, seed (enlarged). 



